Left To My Own Devices
Amelia certainly doesn’t waste any time; The Ministry of Recovery requests that you scope out Comansys HQ. Cast * Sam Yao * Amelia Spens * Paula Cohen * Tony Plot Cross-Country, Quicktime Sam begins his usual gate-raising, cover-firing routine. Amelia contemplates whether the process could be automated. Sam is understandably appalled. The Ministry Will Expect A Full Report As you’re running across country, Amelia reveals that the Ministry of Recovery has requested you, Paula and Tony specifically to carry out this mission, due to your existing knowledge of Comansys. That’s Comansys Sam informs you that Amelia has vacated the comms shack, much to everyone’s relief. Sam mentions the Phantom of Abel; he and Paula laugh as he explains to Tony that it’s probably just people taking stuff without clearing it. You see Comansys looming on the horizon - is that a fairground on the roof? A Tissue Of Corporate Lies Paula explains that Comansys used to have a reputation for being a “cool place to work” and wanting to “make the world better” - Sam even had an interview there back in the day. Paula reveals Van Ark used to be obsessed with Comansys before the apocalypse, putting it down to his competitive nature. Balloon Level...? Paula and Tony marvel at the weird wonders inside the Comansys building. Sam is puzzled; the building looks brand new, which is strange considering the outbreak happened over a year ago. Paula suggests heading to check out the upper floors. A Working Carousel…? You run past stranger and stranger office paraphernalia as you reach the upper floors. Suddenly a timer sounds; it’s Paula’s reminder for her plasmapherisis treatment. Tony makes her feel uncomfortable by probing her about her condition, but this is short lived. You head back to the lift to check out the roof, but the zombies seem to have followed your lead - run for the stairs! Check The Storage Lockers Tony has a close shave with a zombie; he’s a bit shocked since he’s used to having his box with him to repel the undead. Sam suggests running to another staircase before the zombies catch up. Simpsons Corner Shop Rings a Bell More zombies are heading towards you through the nearby woods, attracted by the sound of Comansys’ rooftop fairground. You buy some time by pushing a giant Pegasus up against the door behind you, This buys you enough time for Paula to notice a pub quiz sign up sheet for the “Simpsons Cornershop Gang”- why would this be here if the Comansys employees hadn’t yet moved in? Van Ark Was Right Paula is bemused about the sign up sheet, since the rest of Comansys seems to have been thoroughly cleaned out. Sam acknowledges that the situation may be more serious than originally thought; Simpsons Cornershop was a cover for an underground lab, as you found out last year - a front for a Comansys operation. The third name on the signup sheet is Arthur Gurkhan: Patient Zero. Paula concedes that Van Ark may have been right; Comansys might have caused the apocalypse. Transcript SAM YAO: Raise the gates! siren, gates raising, gunshots Covering - sighs TONY: Looks like they know what to do without you, mate. SAM YAO: Yeah, alright! I just - it’s the form of the thing, alright? PAULA COHEN: It makes you feel better to say it. I understand. AMELIA SPENS: You know, there’s probably some way this whole business could be automated. It’s rather repetitive, isn’t it? SAM YAO: Automated? This is a highly skilled job! AMELIA SPENS: Yes, just a thought. Leave it with me. Now, runners, ah, need you going cross-country today, quick time. I’ll brief you as you go. Get moving! footsteps AMELIA SPENS: Good, good, you’re making excellent time. Very important mission today. Let’s see, we have Runner Five, Runner Twenty-three – that’s you, Doctor Cohen - PAULA COHEN: Present, sir. AMELIA SPENS: Very good, yes. And Runner - oh, you don’t have a number. Anthony… TONY: Just Tony. Never needed any other names. AMELIA SPENS: Right, yes, laughs well. Ah, the Ministry of Recovery requested the three of you particularly, off the back of your very useful information about the goings-on at Comansys in London, “Tony”. laughs And after what you discovered at the Comansys river base, the Ministry has devoted a good proportion of its resources to investigating known Comansys offices, laboratories, and other spaces. TONY: Haven’t found anything, though, have they? AMELIA SPENS: Yes, that’s what you’re here for, Tony. We know Comansys were on the Scottish islands, but the Ministry has sent a team out there, and whatever they were doing in the past, it’s just sheep up there now. Comansys buildings have been found to be, for the most part, entirely clear. We’re hoping that perhaps one of you, with your laughs “expert knowledge” - SAM YAO: What we’re saying is, you might spot something the Ministry’s boys missed. And the more we know about Comansys, the closer we are to getting our people back. Okay? PAULA COHEN: Whatever we can do. AMELIA SPENS: And, incidentally, I’ve cleared with the Ministry that we here at Abel should keep hold of that very useful device you brought back from London, Anthony. TONY: Oh yeah? Canton Five told me to take it to New Canton. AMELIA SPENS: Well, the Ministry thinks that we can make better use of it. Just one of the benefits of having a manager around who really knows people at the top. laughs No need to thank me. And no need to mention it to New Canton, either. Don’t want to start another turf war. SAM YAO: Is that really alright? AMELIA SPENS: Wouldn’t have said so if it wasn’t! Carry on, then. You can take it from here, Samuel. SAM YAO: Um… AMELIA SPENS: Very good. And make sure you’re there and back within ninety minutes. The Ministry will be expecting a full report. Might dock our rations shipment if we don’t keep up with schedule. SAM YAO: Guys, Amelia’s gone now. TONY: Oh, thank God for that! She’s a bossy one! SAM YAO: Yeah, well, maybe we need that. We were better when the Major was in charge. Things have been going a bit difficult. PAULA COHEN: The waves of fast zoms haven’t helped. SAM YAO: Or the “phantom of Abel”. YAO and PAULA COHEN laugh TONY: Got a ghost? Aw, I saw a ghost once! Victoria Station. Old lady dressed in gray, reaching her hands out. There one minute, gone the next! Oh, gave me the shivers! PAULA COHEN: No, it’s not real. Just something people have been saying since stuff’s started going missing. SAM YAO: Yeah, it’s just people taking stuff without writing it down in the book, probably. laughs They wouldn’t have stood for that at Comansys. PAULA COHEN: laughs Yeah. Remember those ads for their automated systems that delivered basically anything you wanted to your desk? SAM YAO: Everyone wanted to work there! PAULA COHEN: Mm. Far as I remember, they were a sort of co-op. When their founder died, about twelve years ago maybe, she left the company to the employees equally. SAM YAO: Yeah. They were supposed to be really good. They did all that think tank stuff around Parkinson’s skewers. You should be able to see the building on the horizon now. TONY: What, that huge thing that looks like a glass warehouse with a fairground on the roof? PAULA COHEN: That’s Comansys. TONY: So, these Comansys people, they made fairgrounds? PAULA COHEN: No. It’s a bit hard to explain. TONY: Did they make enormous soft toys? Beause I can see a giant pink teddy bear inside which is literally like, as big as an escalator. Only like Stratford station, obviously, not like Tottenham Court Road. But still. PAULA COHEN: They got this reputation for being a cool place to work. They wanted to make their offices feel fun to be in. SAM YAO: Yeah. You know, I had an interview in that building once, to see if they wanted to do industry sponsorship for my course. But they wanted someone with um, well, you know, actually good grades. They did this whole “We’re the good guys!” thing. laughs Their mission statement for the whole company, right, was, “Make the World Better!” I suppose not encouraging me to do electrical engineering was a step in the right direction. TONY: How come the lights are still on? SAM YAO: Mm, I’ve managed to get into their systems, opened up their security cameras. They’re all about open source, anyway, so it wasn’t too hard. And the solar panels on the roof power the place. PAULA COHEN: You know Van Ark was obsessed with them? SAM YAO: Really? PAULA COHEN: Even before the apocalypse, because they kept on coming out with that string of inventions. I think he felt competitive with them. And afterwards, he blamed them for everything that had happened. Never had any evidence, though. SAM YAO: I’m not sure I really trust anything he said. PAULA COHEN: He had files on them somewhere, I think. But we haven’t found them in any of the labs we know about. He might have known something about what they were up to. TONY: From what I saw in London, they’re not trying to make the world better anymore. It was them turning my mates into them mind-controlled things, ordering them around and that. SAM YAO: Yeah. I think we have to face the fact that their corporate image might have been a tissue of lies. PAULA COHEN: Don’t break my world like that, Sam! I thought all companies had the best interests of consumers at heart. TONY: Yeah, McDonald’s made health food! SAM YAO: And Silk Cut just wanted smokers to switch brand. PAULA COHEN: And as for Comansys… TONY: We’ll find out, won’t we? opens After you, m'lady. footsteps PAULA COHEN: Anything in there? TONY: When you say “anything”, do you include some kind of bath filled with like, a billion wooden marbles? Beause I can’t think of anything you can do with that, except maybe some really weird sex stuff? PAULA COHEN: But put those wooden marbles together with the river flowing under a glass floor Runner Five found in the basement, and you’ve got nothing that could have anything to do with the zombie apocalypse. TONY: This place doesn’t just feel cleaned out, right? SAM YAO: Yeah. Looking at it, it feels - PAULA COHEN: Brand new. Those brochures we saw in the lobby. The computers all had “create new user” screen. Not a fingermark, not a coffee cup. Not a stain on the hardwood block floors or the egg-shaped chairs. Even the solar panels on the roof look like they’ve just been installed. TONY: Maybe they really hadn’t moved in here yet. New building or something, just before the apocalypse. I’d want to move in myself, except - building made of glass, not that secure against zombies. SAM YAO: Yeah. Amelia said some of the other places were cleaned out, but didn’t realize it’d be like this. PAULA COHEN: We still haven’t checked the upper floors. There might be something. Care to take the glass lift up to - looks like “The Balloon Level”, with me, Five? dings SAM YAO: Yeah, that half-size replica of an eighteenth century pirate ship. That seems to be as clean as everything else. Just the roof to try now. There are a few storage areas up there, might be something useful. Oh yeah, and something you’ve done seems to have set the carousel going on the roof fairground. PAULA COHEN: Vital piece of office equipment, rooftop carousel. I suppose we should check the storage lockers, just in - sounds TONY: What’s that? SAM YAO: Sounds like the kind of mechanical timer someone might use for a bomb. PAULA COHEN: No, sorry, no. It’s me, I’ll just, uh… zipper, turns off alarm TONY: You’re ticking? You want to get that looked at, mate. PAULA COHEN: No, it’s because of my condition. It’s - I set a manual alarm to remind myself I’ve got six hours until I need to be at New Canton for plasmapherisis. TONY: Oh yeah! I heard about that! You’re actually a zombie, but like, in disguise, right? PAULA COHEN: I’m not a zombie. SAM YAO: She’s not! It’s different. TONY: Yeah, but like, if you bit me, I’d turn into a zombie. PAULA COHEN: Yes, uh, I have to be very careful about my blood. Can’t work in the kitchens, can’t chop wood for the fire. Can’t work as a doctor, obviously. That’s why I’m out here. At least I’m some use. Anyway, my condition seems to mean I need less sleep than I used to, and have more stamina. TONY: Man, that is so cool! You’re like a superhero! Would you be able to like, keep going if you lost your arms, or your stomach or something? PAULA COHEN: laughs I uh, I haven’t tested that. I feel pain less intensely than I used to. TONY: Well, cool! PAULA COHEN: If you think so. I think we’re done here, aren’t we, Sam? Another dead end. SAM YAO: Mm, might as well try the roof. The lift goes up there, or there are stairs to your left. dings, door opens, zombies growl TONY: Crap, zoms! They came up in the bleeding lift! SAM YAO: Aw, crap! I didn’t see them coming. This building’s been cleaned out, they must have been attracted by something. PAULA COHEN: Like a working carousel on the roof? TONY: Stairs, now! Come on! moan, door slams, carousel music plays TONY: Bloody hell. Been a while since a zom got that close to me! The box Canton Five gave me has kept them off me. Can’t believe I came out without it. I forgot how bad they smell! Man, they reek, like old fish and eggs and bins, and like - did you ever use a bog at festival? PAULA COHEN: This door isn’t secure. They’ll be up here soon. SAM YAO: There’s another staircase down on the other side of the roof. Check the storage lockers on your way, but don’t waste time! More zoms are on their way. blowing PAULA COHEN: We have to go, Five! We’ve gone through every locker, there’s nothing here! Clean as a whistle. TONY: Yeah, come on, Five! crash SAM YAO: More zombies are approaching through the woods. They’ll cut you off if you stay, you’ll be fine if you head off, now! door opens and shuts, wind stops PAULA COHEN: Quick, help me push this - what is it? Giant pegasus - help me push it up against the door. That’ll buy us some time. TONY: Ugh, it’s heavy! PAULA COHEN: That should hold it. Oh, what’s that? TONY: Must have fallen down behind the big horse. PAULA COHEN: It’s - that’s weird. If no one had moved in here, how can they have a sign-up sheet for their fifth annual pub quiz drinks for the “Simpson’s Corner Shop Gang” on the wall? SAM YAO: Just a sec. Simpson’s Corner Shop rings a bell. TONY: Yeah? Maybe ring your bell when we’re away from the zombies! PAULA COHEN: rustles Look at this thing! Signatures for the drinks. Couple of people have written little notes on it! Look, blue tag on the back. It must have fallen down behind the statue. TONY: But the whole place was so - I mean, you can’t clean anything like that! I think that’s what my mum used to want me to do. PAULA COHEN: And if they wanted to hide something there, why would they wipe all the computer hard drives and clean it like that? Why wouldn’t they just torch it? SAM YAO: Yeah. I think it’s more serious than we thought. Hold that thing up to your headcam, Five. Yeah, I better tell Amelia. PAULA COHEN: Want to tell us? SAM YAO: Yeah, yeah. So – Simpson’s Corner Shop. That’s where our patient zero worked. We thought it was just a, well, you know, corner shop. But when Five went to investigate last year, we found there was a hidden lab under there. PAULA COHEN: Simpson’s Corner Shop was a front for some kind of Comansys operation, then? TONY: Something they didn’t want anyone to know about. SAM YAO: And look at that sign-up sheet. Third name down. TONY: Arthur G. SAM YAO: Arthur Gurkhan. Patient zero. First person who ever became a zombie. Start of everything. PAULA COHEN: Patient zero worked here? For Comansys? So Van Ark was right. Comansys really might have caused the apocalypse. Codex Artefact Comansys brochure Front page: A bright shining sun rising over a hillside on which a square glass box of a building is standing, twinkling like it’s the dawning of a new age of technology and discovery for humankind. On the green of the hillside is printed in white: Your future with COMANSYS New employee orientation pack Welcome to a bright new day! Category:Mission Category:Season Three